Building Engagement and Attainment of Minority Students (BEAMS)

Welcome!

The Building Engagement and Attainment of Minority Students (BEAMS) Project, a 5-year initiative fostering ways in which Historically Black,
Hispanic-serving, and Tribal colleges and universities can increase student learning and success. This project serves 150 four-year colleges and
universities from The Alliance for Equity in Higher Education. Through evidence from NSSE and other sources, each institution commits to analyzing
the scope and character of their students' engagement in their learning and to implementing well-designed action plans for improvement of engagement,
learning, persistence, and success.

The Project offers five main ways for campuses to move toward these institutional goals.

Information from the National Survey of Student Engagement

NJCU administered the NSSE during the Spring 2005 semester and utilized the results to develop the University's BEAMS Project. The NSSE results are available in the resources sections of this site.

The NJCU BEAMS Team particpated in The Alliance Summer 2006 Academy. The Alliance Summer Academy provided five days of concentrated time to develop the plan in the company of a consortium of teams working on similar initiatives.

Collegial support for implementing action plans

As a member of a consortium of campuses working on similar initiatives, NJCU has access to colleagues on other campuses, NSSE staff members, and The Alliance staff members.

Web-based support throughout Project participation

The Alliance's Web Center offers sites for posting of progress reports, discussion of emergent issues during implementation of action plans, resources about topics pertinent to initiatives on campuses, discussion space for consortia communication, and links to Project campus websites and to additional resources.

Opportunity to report nationally on campus initiatives and successes

Project campuses have the opportunity at The Alliance national conferences to report on initiatives and progress that emerge from their use of NSSE information and project activities. This reporting highlights the significant work at Project institutions toward fostering student engagement, learning, and success.